23-09-08 PHOTOS: Portland MAX

Over the years I've managed to at least put a toe in all of the major West Coast population centers, many more than once and for significant periods of time, however I had never gotten the opportunity to visit Portland beyond a 20 minute train-to-bus transfer as part of a Coast Starlight bus bridge in 2014. This year I finally managed to put a real trip together with two solid chunks of railfanning. The first, featured here, involves the trip in from the airport via MAX light rail and wandering around Union Station before heading west of the city to my final destination. The second part will cover both ends of the city's iconic Steel Bridge as well as the return trip to the airport. You can view the first set of photos here ( mirror ).

Starting things off on Southwest Airlines, I encountered the Hawaiian and New Mexican heritage units at BWI and Chicago Midway respectively.

Unfortunately the MAX Airport Line was under reconstruction so my first experience with the light rail was boarding a TriMet shuttle bus to the Gateway Transportation Center.

To reach Union Station I would need to catch a Green Line train in from Gateway, as the Red and Blue line trains use a different alignment through downtown. While known for its boxy Siemens SD660 LRV's #236, in recent years TriMet has been ordering SD70 and SD700 LRV's like #402.

My train downtown would feature Portland 300-series SD660 #320. While the rolling stock is set up for a look ahead view, I later discovered that the default behavior by most operators was to deploy a curtain and block it.

With the first segments built in the late 1987, MAX is one of the few North American rail systems with left hand mounted signals. On the dedicated rights of way signaling is a basic ABS/ATS setup with speeds up to 55mph between stations.

MAX uses BNSF style speed restriction signs including a harsh 20mph through stations.

23-09-02 PHOTOS: Doswell

As the supply of interesting signaling in the northeast dries up, I have been having to turn my attention south to the state of Virginia. The CSX route between Washington, DC and Richmond, VA fortunately has a number of Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac era signaling from before it was purchased by CSX in 1992 and after learning that the notable Doswell, VS bracket mast was under threat of replacement I schedule a third RF&P related trip in the summer of 2023, the previous two having been to the Milford and Fredericksburg areas. You can find the full set of these new photos here ( mirror ).

The first stop of the day was at the Coleman's Mill intermediate signal location, 29.5 miles from Richmond. I arrived with my friend in time to catch Amtrak Train 88 with P42DC #54 leading.

We then ran express to Doswell, VA where the famed bracket mast was still standing along with its intended replacement. Typically CSX would have replaced the now disfavored bracket configuration with a cantilever, but because the signaling logic was not in need of replacement and the location of the signal is constrained by adjacent tracks, a new bracket mast was ordered.

Doswell is a significant interchange point and yard for the Buckingham Branch railroad which operates the former C&O Blue Ridge route between Richmond and Clifton Forge, VA. Two of its locomotives, GP40-3 #12 and GP38-2 #17, were standing adjacent to the bracket mast.

Doswell's other big attraction is HN tower, the classic RF&P station and the C&O Blue Ridge route diamonds.

The diamonds are the real deal and not the low maintenance flange riding type.

The RF&P was one of the better resourced railroads in the former Confederate South and many of its all brick towers survive today with. HN tower features such PRR quality elements such as copper cladding, an air plant for pneumatic switches and a bay window.

The former joint RF&P / C&O station still stands and houses Buckingham Branch offices.

I was wondering why so many railfans were hanging around the Doswell diamonds, when southbound Amtrak Palmetto Train 89 appeared with ALC-42 Charger #329 leading on what was apparently one of the first uses of this locomotive type out of Washington, DC.

23-08-25 PHOTOS: 36th St Connections

The interlocking and junction known as ZOO and its historical territory perhaps doesn't get as much coverage as it deserves due to being in a part of Philadelphia that lacks access to good rail transit and while also being unpleasant to drive to. One of ZOO's more interesting locations is often known as 36th St Junction where Amtrak trains bound for 30th St Station's lower level split from the Main Line that send SEPTA trains to 30th St Station's upper level. In the late summer of 2023 I the opportunity to go out with a friend who knows how to navigate Philly's bus system to reach 36th St junction and spend some time getting photos there ( mirror ).

Like many of my rail adventures this one started off in the Baltimore area, but unlike many recent trips I caught my Amtrak train from my old stomping grounds of Baltimore Penn Station. I was connecting to Amtrak there as I wanted to get some pics of the new B&O style CPL dwarf installed as part of the new Track F platform.

I had arrived on a MARC local pulled by MP36PH-3C #16 and would connect to a northbound Acela led by power car #2014.

I was lucky enough to get on one of the 2 Acela round trips with a beverage cart. I saw a woman order a $10 glass of white wine and get pretty much a full 16oz solo cup pour.

SEPTA Silverliner IV #408 at 30th St.

One of the most iconic features of 36th St Jct is the double cantilever signal located at the west end. Still controlled from the 1930 vintage US&S interlocking machine in ZOO tower, trains to Suburban Station head straight while trains to 30th St station's lower lever diverge.

Westbound SEPTA R5 comprised of Silverliner IV's including #422 and #367, passing through the junction on main track #4.

ZOO used to see a lot of freight traffic, but today this has been reduced to the single track Trenton Line, now run by CSX and completely separated from Amtrak. Here CSX ES44AC #947 and CM44AC #7000 head eastbound through the old limit of ZOO.

Eastbound R5 train with Silverliners IV #396 and #336

The great ZOO tower was recently given a fresh set of windows and reproduction PRR keystone nameplates.

An inbound R5 with Silverliner IV #436 heading on track #1 towards the 30th St upper level.

23-08-20 VIDEOS: Baltimore Metro Subway

Here we have the videos that go with my main Baltimore Metro Subway post. Due to the impending replacement of the Budd built Universal Transit Vehicle's, I made time to take a round trip from Owings Mills to Johns Hopkins Hospital and back.  Taking video through the forward facing windows, each trip was divided into two parts with the break taking place at West Cold Springs.

The line features manual operation with cab signal based automatic train control using speeds of 0, 12, 20, 40, 50, 60 and 70mph. The above ground section sees main line speeds of 50, 60 and 70mph with the 70mph taking place in the interstate 795 median between Owings Mills and Old Court. The Metro Subway yard complex is located between Reisterstown and Rodgers Ave.

 The tunnel section sees speeds of mostly 40 and 50mph.

While at Johns Hopkins I got a pair of videos of UTV trains departing and arriving. The UTV stock makes use of DC chopper type propulsion systems.






The return trip was largely uneventful, but provided a different perspective.






That's all for my Baltimore Metro Subway experience. I'll be back shortly with photos from ZOO interlocking's 36th St Jct.

23-08-20 PHOTOS: Dorsey and Baltimore Metro

As the Baltimore Metro Subway lurches forward towards replacing its Budd Universal Transit Vehicles, I figured I should take the time to both ride the system again and try to get front facing video that captures the current look and feel of the line. The videos will be in their own part, but here I'll have stills from the two terminal stations as well as other Baltimore area rail activities. The whole set of still photos can be found here ( mirror ).

I'll kick things off at the Dorsey MARC station killing some time between visiting a local mall and trivia night. I got there in time to catch an eastbound MARC Camden line train hauled by MARC MP36PH-3C #33 with Bomber cab car #8045 on the rear.

For whatever reason the CSX dispatcher decided to run a train full mostly of empty NYC waste cubes and powered by C40-10W #5449 and SD70MAC #4560 ahead of the following eastbound MARC train. However the next train into the station was a westbound with single level cab car #7759 and SC44 #81.

Before the Metro stuff I also did another trip up the NEC encountering MARC Bomber cab car #8053 and Acela Express power car #2010 at BWI.

Here is SEPTA #719 posing in front of the tiles at Market East and PATCO #1089 at Haddonfield.

Moving back down to Baltimore to get some photos at WINANS interlocking at the Halethorpe Station. There I caught an inbound MARC weekend train with Kab Kar #7843 plus SC44 #82, in addition to a southbound Amtrak Regional with ACS-86 #654.

23-07-14 PHOTOS: Fredericksburg

In July 2023, Virginia Railway Express offered a week of free fares in an attempt to boost ridership. I had participated in a similar promotion in 2022, but instead of a quick out and back to Franconia-Springfield, I took advantage of Amtrak's lower fares to book a return Regional from the near terminus of the VRE Fredericksburg Line. My DC railfan buddy also decided to join me as Fredericksburg offered a quality food and beverage options in addition to a high pace of activity on the CSX RF&P Sub. You can see the full set of photos here.

Planning on catching the first VRE Fredericksburg Line train southbound, My mid-day MARC berthed at the far end of of the track 7/8 platform at the western edge of Union Station. The walk to the station terminal involved passing MARC cab car #8047, MP36PH3C #19, MARC Mp36PH-3C #30 and MARC single level cab car #7761 and #7760.

Down on the Union Station lower lever I saw that Amtrak Capitol Limited Train #29 had arrived on Track #23 instead of the more customary Track 15/16.

The early southbound Fredericksburg Line train would be powered by VRE MP36PH-3C #V53. Luckily the entire train was open and I could seize the railfan window at the rear as we pulled out of track #24 and into the 1st St Tunnel under Capitol Hill.

VIRGINIA tower has been partly restored, but the ivy covering the rear might be bad for the brick work.

Space in the Ivy City Yard is at such a premium that VRE stores one of its trainsets in a purpose built pocket track in CP-VIRGINIA, seen here with VRE MP36PH-3C #V66.

Departing Franconia-Springfield, which until this point had been the farthest south I had traveled on a VRE train on the Fredericksburg Line.

Most VRE stations, like Lorton here, employ a single platform on track #2 since the peak direction operation precludes the need for opposing VRE trains to pass each other. Savings in station construction is a less discussed factor behind the decision to employ peak direction operation.

At Lorton, Amtrak P40DC's #814 and #821 were gearing up for that day's departure. The older P40 locomotives from 1993 are typically assigned to Auto Train service as they feature freight style braking which makes handling the long train of mostly auto-racks easier.

Encountering a northbound CSX manifest freight crossing the Occoquan Creek bridge. This and several other significant viaducts between Quantico and DC will make installing a full third track challenging.

Speaking of third tracks, construction is progressing well on the second phase of the project with a second third track in service between Possum Point, north of Quantico and Arkendale. The new Quantico station is being set up to handle trains on all three tracks.

The next point of interest was encountering northbound Carolinian Train 80 at the VRE Brooke station.